Research – help or hindrance to insight?

There seems to have been a lot of debate recently on the differences between research and insight and the relationship between the two.This was highlighted to us recently when an ‘insight’ colleague of a client operating in a very fact based industry questioned whether each individual element of our proposed positioning concept had been researched. The answer was of course “No”. We had done plenty of conventional research, dug into associated areas, deeply investigated the brand and then used all that information, plus our intuition, to develop an insightful, inspiring, relevant and credible brand positioning. To research that further would of course be pointless and, worse still could be detrimental. How could a customer tell us whether the personality descriptors of a brand not yet launched are correct or not?

This is not unusual, many of us use research as a crutch, and we struggle to make decisions without them being completely backed up by evidence, often considerably hampering innovation and creativity.So how do we ensure that we go deeper than research ‘facts’, delivering insights that add richness to a topline opportunity or challenge, put forward a point of view, evaluations and recommendations?

Our the key principles are;

1) Ensure you understand what the insight is to be used for. It is no good finding some fascinating insight about your customer if it is not a need the brand can satisfy. Insights are not an end in themselves, they are springy platforms that develop into ‘answers’ to business issues.

2) Dig deeper and in different places. Much talked about now but it is true that conventional research will rarely give you all you need to develop your insight. It is no good asking girls about their chocolate eating habits, ask their partners who will tell you about the chocolate wrappers they find stuffed behind the car seats! Don’t ask mothers about what their children eat in their lunch boxes, watch them pack them. You need to go to the consumer’s natural habitat to take research to a deeper level. At Brand Vista we called this jungle research. We have spent time on buses, talking to hotel concierges and even been a parcel for the day to really get under the teeth of brands.

3) Analyse with rigour. An insight is not something that one person comes up with on their own out of thin air, or even lots of data. It needs several people to come together discuss what they have found, what is similar, what contradicts and what really excites them. That is why we always ensure at least two, if not more of our team are involved in our insights projects and we dedicate a good deal of time to analysing the findings and our ‘discovery’ days when we interpret the data.

By applying the above principles at Brand Vista, we have been able to deliver insight which is not only actionable and relevant but real for our clients.

"There is a massive difference between research and insight. Research often tells you what you already know or think you know, there's nothing wrong with that, it's key to good business. However, real insight gets under the skin and discovers things. It uncovers the hidden secrets and brutal truths that make the market tick and is directional for your business. You need both, but insight keeps you ahead."
Nick Mackenzie, Managing Director Resort Theme Parks at Merlin Entertainments Group

So let’s move away from all the talk about ‘big data’ and ‘knowledge’ – sometimes less is more. Let’s look at what we know, where else we can explore to look at the subject from different angles and use our informed intuition to develop exciting, winning propositions for our customers.